Four schools picked up silverware at the Northern Ireland Schools’ FA’s annual national primary schools seven-a-side finals.
The victorious teams were from Sunnylands Primary (Carrickfergus), Belfast school St Matthew’s, Kilkeel Primary and King’s Park PS in Lurgan.
Regional winners from across Northern Ireland were invited to participate in competitions for small, medium and large schools and girls’ teams at finals day, which was staged at Lurgan Town Arena.
This year 22 schools participated in a fantastic event showcasing the quality of schools’ football across Northern Ireland.
In the small schools section Sunnylands defeated St John’s PS (Coleraine) on penalties in the final after the game finished 0-0 in regulation time.
St Matthew’s retained the cup for medium-sized schools thanks to a 1-0 win over Moyallon Primary from Co Armagh.
The large schools competition saw Co Down’s Kilkeel PS defeat St Paul’s (Belfast) 3-0 in an end to end game where a Jay Forsythe long range free-kick provided the goal of the day.
The fourth and final decider was for the girls’ cup – and King’s Park and Co Armagh rivals Orchard County (Annaghmore, Portadown) provided lots of entertainment.
With the game looking like it was going to penalties King’s Park’s Lydia Devlin produced a fantastic strike to win the cup for the Lurgan school.
Irish FA Foundation Schools Manager Gareth Allen said: “It was fantastic to see the final tournament back after a few years without primary schools playing competitive football.
“I would like to congratulate all the participating schools for the effort and quality that was shown on the day. The nationals are a reward for schools winning their regional competitions and we are delighted that so many schools are participating in primary schools’ football for both boys and girls.”
